Learn & Teach

Hayden Planetarium Programs

Astronomy Live: The Grand Tour

July 29, 2014

Nearly all of us know we're the third planet from the Sun, but where are we among the stars in the Milky Way? Do we hold a special place among the planets, stars, and galaxies in the universe? The Grand Tour will answer these questions while you travel from Earth to the most distant objects in the universe. Explore planets, extrasolar planets, nearby stars, and the myriad galaxies that populate the universe while we fly through the 3D Digital Universe Atlas. In one evening, you will experience the entire observable universe and come to a cosmic understanding of where we are and how we came to be.

The best views of the universe happen at an evening program in the Hayden Planetarium. Enjoy tours of the cosmos with expert presenters, lively lectures, seasonal star parties, special events, and more.

Shep Doeleman will explore the evidence for black holes, and describe an effort to link radio dishes around the world to form an Earth-sized virtual telescope that will make the first images of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

An unforgettable trip from Earth to the edge of known space and back, the American Museum of Natural History’s The Known Universe has hit 10 million views on YouTube. Viewers from Australia to India to Alaska have tuned in to watch the video, which uses the Digital Universe Atlas, a scientifically accurate four-dimensional map of the cosmos maintained by Museum astrophysicists, to show the vastness of the universe. The Known Universe was created by the Museum in late 2009 as part of an exhibit for the Rubin Museum of Art in New York.

The Wall Street Journal recently hosted a video segment at the Museum’s Rose Center for Earth and Space. Watch the clip below to hear Department of Astrophysics Chair and Curator Mordecai-Mark Mac Low explain the science behind the Northern Lights and their relation to the Sun.

Be one of the first to fly around the Hayden Planetarium Sphere as part of this 200-person cooperative space game custom designed for the dome. The game transforms the theater into a living, breathing space ship where participants navigate through a fictitious universe.

Kerbal Space Program

Build a space-worthy craft that can safely fly your crew through space using the parts at your disposal. Each has its own function and will affect the way a ship flies—or doesn’t!